Town are keeping an eye on Hearts pair Lee Wallace and Jose Goncalves, according to a tabloid report this morning. Manager Roy Keane is said have sent scouts to Scotland on a regular basis this season and is ready to offer £2 million for left-back Wallace in January.
Wallace, 22, came through the youth system at Hearts, making his senior debut in 2004. The Edinburgh-born defender won his first full Scotland cap in October, having previously played at U19, U20 and U21 levels. He is contracted to Hearts until 2012.
In 2006 Wallace was fined £1,500 for possessing an airgun and earlier this year was fined £1,100 after a bust-up with bouncers outside a nightclub.
Goncalves, 24, plays either at left-back or centre-half and is out of contract next summer. The Blues are said to be considering offering the former Portuguese U21 international a pre-contract agreement in January ahead of a Bosman move next summer.
The Lisbon-born defender previously played for Swiss sides Basel, Winterthur and Thun, having been brought up in Switzerland, in Italy with Venezia, in Lithuania with Kaunas and last season was on loan at Nuremberg in Germany.
The report also again claims that Town have had a bid turned down by Stoke for defensive pair Leon Cort and Danny Higginbotham, something which Roy Keane and Tony Pulis have both denied.
Meanwhile, Town’s reserves are in action against Haverhill Rovers in the quarter-finals of the LB Group Suffolk Premier Cup at Portman Road this evening (KO 7.45pm).